Ishrak takes the top spot on the compensation list because of long-term equity awards that vested or were exercised. He exercised $13.6 million worth of options and earned $29.7 million from restricted stock awards that vested. According to the proxy, about 96 percent of the restricted stock will be deferred until his retirement.

Pay Breakdown

Hormel CEO Jeffrey Ettinger. ] GLEN STUBBE * gstubbe@startribune.com Friday September 11, 2015 Despite woes throughout the food industry, partly due to consumers turning away some from processed foods, Hormel has managed to continue prospering -- even though a good part of its business -- Spam, chili -- is about as processed as you can get. But the company’s turkey and pork offerings are riding a hot protein trend. And over the past two years, it’s made some of the biggest acquisitions in its history, incluidng Skippy peanut butter and Applegate Farms natural and organic meats (just this summer). We look at Hormel’s acquisition strategy, how it’s working, what are its challenges, in addition to explaining how it’s not struggling like General Mills, Kraft, Kelllogg, etc.

Base Salary $1,548,216

Bonus $6,070,758

Misc. $90,299

Options $13,556,856

Stock Awards $29,723,654

2. Jeffrey Ettinger

Ch • Hormel Foods

Total pay: $35,857,999

Percent change: 530%

Shareholder return: 15.7%

Ettinger retired as CEO on Oct. 31. During his tenure, Hormel stock had total return of 454 percent. His total compensation comes mostly from a $29 million gain from long-held stock options.

Stephen Hemsley, chief executive officer of UnitedHealth Group Inc., speaks at a press conference on General Electric Co.’s new health-care initiative in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, April 7, 2009. GE plans to spend $6 billion by 2015 on health-care products, financing and partnerships designed to make more efficient, lower-cost treatment available worldwide. Photographer: Jay Mallin/Bloomberg News

Percent change: 35.1%

Shareholder return: 23.4%

Davis retired as CEO on April 18. For now, he remains executive chairman. He told the Economic Club of Minnesota earlier this year he had not decided what he would do after he retires as CEO.

Douglas Baker Jr., who was promoted to president and chief operating officer of St. Paul-based Ecolab on Aug. 20, 2002. Baker previously was president of the institutional sector.

Percent change: 116.8%

Shareholder return: 14%

Pentair announced in May it was splitting into two independent public companies: a water and an electric business. When completed, Hogan is expected to be chairman of the yet-to-be-named electrical business.

Pay Breakdown

Base Salary $1,275,795

Bonus $2,877,513

Misc. $176,636

Options $10,049,715

Stock Awards $8,810,184

7. Michael Hoffman

Ch • The Toro Co.

Total pay: $21,530,276

Percent change: 94.5%

Shareholder return: 29.1%

Hoffman retired as CEO on Oct. 31. In his 11 years and seven months as CEO, Toro stock had a total return of 402 percent, which boosted the value of his long-term equity awards.

Pay Breakdown

Benjamin G.S. Fowke III (Photo: Xcel Energy) ORG XMIT: BW28

Base Salary $990,000

Bonus $1,023,536

Misc. $205,002

Options $16,204,312

Stock Awards $3,107,426

8. Gary Hendrickson

Ch, P, CEO • Valspar Corp.

Total pay: $20,168,485

Percent change: 78.5%

Shareholder return: 24.8%

Sherwin-Williams and Valspar completed their $11.3 billion merger on June 1, almost 15 months after it was initially announced and after several delays due to review from federal regulators.

Pay Breakdown

Base Salary $1,041,647

Bonus $2,213,479

Misc. $381,780

Options $3,098,765

Stock Awards $13,432,814

9. Benjamin Fowke III

Ch, P, CEO • Xcel Energy

Total pay: $18,500,718

Percent change: 65.6%

Shareholder return: 17.1%

Xcel Energy hasn’t used stock options as part of its executive compensation design since 2001. The company relies largely on performance-based share awards but issued service-based stock awards in 2016.

Pay Breakdown

Base Salary $1,200,000

Bonus $1,828,800

Misc. $52,902

Options $0

Stock Awards $15,419,016

10. Hubert Joly

Ch, CEO • Best Buy Co.

Total pay: $16,807,608

Percent change: -27.7%

Shareholder return: 67.7%

Joly was recruited to be Best Buy Co.’s first outside CEO in September 2012. Earlier this year, the company completed Joly’s Renew Blue cost-cutting strategy, and the company’s stock reached its highest price.